Why is $16.67 such an important number to me? No, it is not the price of my favorite bottle of wine. Nor is it the cost of my restaurant bill last night.
One thousand six hundred sixty seven pennies is the amount of passive income per day I need to earn to reach my goals. I just finished writing a recap of my SMART Goals that I plan to put into action over the next year. Those goals put into place a plan to build $3,000 in recurring monthly income over the next year.
The Numbers
So how do I get from $3,000 to $16.67? I plan to separate my passive income streams into 6 different categories (check out my multiple income stream breakdown for more details). Each of these income streams will be responsible for earning $500 per month in recurring income by the end of next year. Breaking down my overall target of $3K into several different buckets allows me to focus on the finer details and also forces me to create a diversified set of income streams.
Taking the $500 per month in targeted earnings for each income stream, I have calculated that I need to average about $16.67 per day in income. That translates into $100 per day for all 6 income streams combined. While earning $3,000 per month or $100 per day is very achievable, I prefer to use the $16.67 number as my target.
Advantages in Using $16.67 as My Target
By breaking down my income targets per day and per income stream, I am able to set very detailed actions that are required to earn that money. For example, if I plan to monetize one of my niche sites primarily with AdSense, then I will be able to determine how much traffic I need to get per day. While the numbers and calculations that I use are only estimates, it at least gives me a baseline of where I need to be. Overtime, the estimates can be adjusted accordingly based on feedback that I get.
Having actionable documented steps for each income stream is what it will take to build $3,000 in monthly recurring income. Without them, I would probably be jumping from project to project (as I have done many times in the past) with no clear plan or set of goals. All of the moving around from different projects stops now!
Daily eHow Stats – Why Daily Numbers Work for Me
Over the past several months, I have been able to track the average daily income I am generating from eHow. That has ranged from about $7 – $8 per day over the past couple of months. I also know how many articles I have written to earn that daily amount. These numbers have allowed me to accurately estimate the amount of effort needed to reach my goal of $500 per month (another 2010 SMART goal) with this income stream.
My eHow earnings SMART goal details how I will commit to writing 21 new articles each month over the next 7 months in order to double my income. Knowing that I need to write 21 high quality articles on eHow every month allows me to carefully plan my time, which is my most valuable asset.
Final Thoughts
I plan to begin tracking my other income streams, just as I have been doing for eHow, by using daily numbers. By doing so, I am making it easier for myself to set very detailed actions that need to be carried out. Without these detailed actionable items, I would put myself at a disadvantage from reaching my ultimate goal of $3,000 in recurring monthly income.
Do you set daily, weekly, or monthly goals? What do you find works best for you? Are you able to create actionable items out of your goals?
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh I love the way you come up with your goals! It certainly makes it seem a lot easier to reach them!
@Ruth – Thanks. I look forward to documenting my status along the way.
John,
Great post. I think it is very important to diversify streams of residual income as much as possible like you. This does 2 things in my humble opinion. First it lets you decide where you should put the most emphasis when working on your passive income, if something is bringing in a considerable amount more money, then giving this a little more love is a good idea. Second it really helps you not get burnt out, it will help you do something different each day, if your only passive income is coming through eHow articles I couldn’t imagine how quickly I would become bored and lose interest in on the eHow method.
Good luck, I hope you hit that $16.67 mark with ease!
I really like the way you’ve broken this down. It should also help in not neglecting certain areas of your business (particularly those you least enjoy!).
@Des – Thanks. That is the plan. I was so focused on writing for eHow last year, that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to other income streams.
To throw my 2 cents in on Des’ comment, I would think that you would want to give more attention and resources to your top performing passive income streams. On one hand, diversification is good (for the numerous reasons John has covered) but it also is akin to multi-tasking – pulling you in multiple directions instead of a single focused goal.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how you get there. Just as long as you get there and have fun doing it!
I love how you have broken down your goals into small, manageable mini-goals. I really think you are going to be successful in meeting your objectives in 2010!
Cool article.
Breaking down the goals into very small chunks is a great idea. $16.67 per income stream certainly looks a lot easier to achieve than $3000 a month!